


Compassion

by Luridel



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Major character death - Freeform, Spoilers, Trespasser DLC spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 08:03:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4997038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luridel/pseuds/Luridel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Once she is gone—and Cole knows the moment—he stands, gathering her into his arms."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Compassion

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompt: "Lavellan doesn't manage to ask those questions. She doesn't manage to ask, or say, anything at all. She doesn't make it through that last mirror. She fights and fights until her body gives up on her. So, instead of Lavellan, it's one of her companions that walks through the mirror-- to tell Solas that the inquisitor is dead, and maybe to pass on a final message."

Once she is gone—and Cole knows the moment—he stands, gathering her into his arms. She is lighter than she looks, so still, so quiet, and her head tips lifelessly back against his arm. The mark on her hand is still snapping with sparks, but less frequently, now, the light lessening little by little.

_It isn't your fault, Cole,_ she would have told him, the way she did once. _You did everything you could._

He will tell Maryden about her words later, Cole decides, and she will transform the pain into a song.

Cradling his friend's body carefully, he approaches the Eluvian ahead of them. For a moment, he thinks it will not let him through, but the Anchor sparks and the surface of the mirror shifts, opening, inviting, and he finds that he can walk forward.

He emerges in the midst of an arrangement of statues—stone, standing solid, silent—and goes to find Solas. His hurt is easy to listen for, despite the two years they have been apart. Cole feels Solas's regret even sharper now that he is so near, and he hesitates. Bringing her to Solas will deepen the hurt, he knows, but if he does not find out now, through a friend, he will find out in some other way, and that might be worse.

Solas makes the decision for him, however: he turns, mouth opening as if to speak, but then his eyes fix on _her_ and he says nothing.

"She knew who you were," Cole says. "She put the pieces together. She was coming to protect you." He sinks to his knees, overwhelmed, and Solas rushes forward to take her from his arms.

Her body is just a shell, now, and Cole knows that, which is why he is so startled to find that he doesn't want to let her go. He does, of course—Solas needs her more.

" _Vhenan,_ " Solas whispers, and nothing else.


End file.
